TY  - JOUR
AU  - Glaeser,Edward L.
AU  - Sacerdote,Bruce
TI  - Why Is There More Crime in Cities?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5430
PY  - 1996
Y2  - January 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5430
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5430.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Edward L. Glaeser
Department of Economics
315A Littauer Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-0575
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: eglaeser@harvard.edu

Bruce Sacerdote
6106 Rockefeller Hall
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755-3514
Tel: 603/646-2121
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: Bruce.I.Sacerdote@dartmouth.edu
AB  - Crime rates are much higher in big cities than in either small cities or rural areas, and this situation has been relatively pervasive for several centuries.  This paper attempts to explain this connection by using victimization data, evidence from the NLSY on criminal behavior and the Uniform Crime Reports.  Higher pecuniary benefits for crime in large cities can explain approximately 27% of the effect for overall crime, though obviously much less of the urban- crime connection for non-pecuniary crimes such as rape or assault. Lower arrest probabilities, and lower probability of recognition, are a feature of urban life, but these factors seem to explain at most 20% of the urban crime effect.  The remaining 45-60% of the effect can be related to observable characteristics of individuals and cities.  The characteristics that seem most important are those that reflect tastes, social influences and family structure.  Ultimately, we can say that the urban crime premium is associated with these characteristics, but we are left trying to explain why these characteristics are connected with urban living.
ER  -